Harry Potter and the Seventh Horcrux
by Kung-Fu Gerbil
Summary: HBP Spoiler! Takes place where the sixth book ends. Dumbledore returns! The war rages on during Harry's seventh year. Rated to be safe for later chapters. And please don't hate me for horrible summary.
1. The Reappearance

Note: This takes up immediately after HBP. Meaning yes, Harry is still in his 6th year at the beginning.

Disclaimer: If J. K. Rowling owns it, then I do not. -

Harry Potter and the Seventh Horcrux 

Chapter 1: The Reappearance

Dumbledore, dead, Snape, Avada Kedavra, kill, revenge… so many things swirled through Harry's head as he walked back towards the castle after Dumbledore's funeral. He walked up the stairs in a daze, hardly noticing when he finally reached the portrait of the Fat Lady in front of the common room. He looked up to say the password when he heard a voice behind him, "Mr. Potter!"

Harry turned to see Professor… no, Headmistress McGonagall walking towards him.

"Yes, Headmistress?"

"Please, Mr. Potter, refrain from calling me that. There's someone in the Headmaster's office that wishes to speak with you."

Harry followed after her trying to wonder who wanted to talk with him, and why McGonagall called her office "the Headmaster's office." As they were ascending the spiral stairs Harry suddenly snapped out of his wondering and looked forward. What he saw when McGonagall opened the door almost knocked him onto his back. There, sitting at his desk as though nothing had happened, was the ghost of Professor Dumbledore.

"Ah, Harry, yes, come in. Sit down," said the ghost as soon as he spotted Harry.

However, Harry was too stunned to move. Only when McGonagall gave him a slight push at his back did he begin to walk forward and sit down in one the chairs opposite Dumbledore. Dumbledore stared at Harry, as though he expected Harry to start the conversation. However, after realizing that Harry was no where near being able to make coherent words yet, he began, "Well, Harry, I assume you took the locket out of my cloak before you let them put my body away in that coffin. For if you didn't we would be in quite a pickle now, wouldn't we?"

Mention of the locket suddenly brought Harry back to reality. He rummaged though his pockets and pulled out the locket.

"Uh, Professor… this locket… it's not a Horcrux."

Dumbledore took the locket from Harry as though he hadn't heard what Harry had said. He opened it, took out the note, and a slight smile began to form across his face.

"You're right, Harry. This is no Horcrux. This is, however, a very important piece of the puzzle."

"What do you mean, Professor? We don't even know who R.A.B. is."

"On the contrary, Harry, I already had a hunch about who R.A.B. was before I ever saw this note."

Harry's eyes widened as he stared at Dumbledore.

"Well, Professor, if you know who it is, why don't you tell me and we can go get that Horcrux?"

Harry, however, had a sinking feeling in his stomach when he already had an idea of what Dumbledore was going say. He felt it was going to be the same as he had always said all year, "I can't tell you that yet, Harry." However, Dumbledore's answer surprised him.

"I suppose it's about time I filled you in on everything, Harry. Ever since I learned of the Horcruxes, I assumed one of Voldemort's followers would work up the guts to defy him and try to destroy him himself. When I heard that Regulus Black had tried to escape Voldemort and the Death-Eaters, I had a hunch that he had attempted to do just that. Now, finding this note, I firmly believe that it is non other than our friend Regulus Black who snatched this Horcrux, and possibly the others as well."

Harry contemplated this for a moment, but then he looked back up at Dumbledore as he suddenly realized something.

"But Professor, isn't Regulus dead? If he's dead, how are we supposed to find the Horcruxes? You don't suppose Voldemort found them all and is now guarding them himself do you? What if-"

At this, Dumbledore held up his hand to silence Harry.

"Calm down Harry. Remember that I'm dead. I'm past old; I can't handle that many questions. It is true that Voldemort had Regulus killed. But we must trust what Regulus was doing. If he went so far as to betray the Dark Lord and steal up to four pieces of his soul, he would not have let it be easy for Voldemort to get them back. I believe they are very likely hidden somewhere safe; somewhere Voldemort cannot reach."

"But Professor, is there really a place that Voldemort cannot reach?"

"I can only think of one, Harry, and I think it better for you not to know at this moment."

Harry wanted to push the subject further, but from the look in Dumbledore's eyes he knew not to pursuit the subject further.

"And, now," said Dumbledore, "I believe there is another subject that needs explaining. All this time I have told you and the order that I trust Serverus with my very life, have I not?"

With this, Harry gave a slight nod. Dumbledore continued, "And I am sure, that in light of recent events, all of you now have absolutely no trust in Serverus, and very likely despise him."

Again, Harry nodded.

"Then I assume that you will be surprised in me saying that I still do trust Serverus with my- I use the term lightly- life. Because you see, Serverus made an Unbreakable Vow, as you yourself told me. After you informed me of this, I called Serverus to my office and he explained everything. He had made an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissus Malfoy, Draco's mother, in which he swore to help Draco succeed in the mission the Dark Lord assigned to him. That mission happened to be to kill me. I then knew that had to make a decision between my life and Serverus's. Well, Serverus is very valuable to the Order inside Voldemort's ranks; he tells us information that we would otherwise be without."

At this point it was Harry's turn to interrupt.

"But Professor, he killed you! Snape cannot be trusted! The rest of the Order sees that, why can't you!"

"You are fortunate, Harry, that I can no longer correct you in how you address Serverus, but that is beside the point. Harry, I can trust Snape because I ordered him to kill me."

Harry's surprise at first seeing Dumbledore's ghost was no where near the surprise he felt now. Why on earth would Dumbledore order Snape to kill him? It didn't make sense.

Dumbledore continued, "I realized that either Serverus or I would have to die. I would die if Serverus upheld his vow, and he would die if he broke it. I therefore ordered him to kill me when the time came so that he could continue to live and infiltrate Voldemort's ranks. Now Harry, I believe that is all the explaining that needs to be done now. I believe we should now move on and inform the other members of the Order that I am- in a manner of speaking- still alive."

As they were heading towards the door, Harry suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Nearly-Headless Nick after Sirius died.

"Wizards can leave an imprint of themselves upon the earth, to walk palely where their living selves once trod. But very few wizards choose that path."

Harry stopped and turned to face Dumbledore.

"Professor, a year ago, when Sirius died, I talked to Nearly-Headless Nick-"

"Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, Harry, that's his name. Not Nearly-Headless Nick."

"Right, anyway, I talked with him and he said that wizards were able to leave imprints of themselves upon the earth where they had walked while alive. Does that mean…"

"Yes, Harry, it means I can only exist within the confines of Hogwarts school grounds."

Harry nodded and continued, "He also said that few wizards choose this path. Why is that?"

"Because, Harry, by becoming a ghost, you lose your chance to die. You are, in essence, immortal, and you are never able to move on."

"So you're immortal now?"

"Yes, Harry, I am now immortal. I have achieved, to a degree what Lord Voldemort wishes to achieve with his Horcruxes."

"But Professor, if you are able to become a ghost, then what's to stop Voldemort from doing as you have done?"

"Because, in order to become a ghost, one must have their entire soul intact."

At this, Dumbledore winked at Harry, and walked through the door of his office.

Please read and review. First fanfic and your reviews will decide whether or not I go on.


	2. The Decision

Author's Note: I'm really disappointed… one review. I apologize to my one faithful reviewer for the wait on this. I wanted to wait until I had two reviews before I submitted this, but it seems that won't happen anytime soon. Come on people, I really do enjoy reviews, even if you're criticizing my work (but be nice about it, tell me what I did wrong). Anyway, without further ado, here's Chapter Two, hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own Harry Potter, that honor goes to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 2: The Decision

The next morning Harry awoke to see his bag packed and sitting on the foot of his bed.

"What the…!"

Harry leaped out of bed, put on the only remaining wardrobe of his left outside of his bag, and walked downstairs to see the Gryffindor common room one last time. As he turned to face the backside of the portrait, he was greeted by Hermoine, Ron, and Ginny.

"Hope you don't mind I packed your bag, Harry," said Ron with a slight grin, "After your potion saved us, I figured it was the least I could do."

Harry mouth formed a smile for the first time since the night of Dumbledore's death. "It's alright, Ron. Thanks."

Next was Ginny's turn to speak, "Harry, where were you last night after Dumbledore's funeral? We all stayed up until about midnight waiting for you, but you never showed."

Harry remembered that it had been about one in the morning before he finally made it back to the common room. However, Dumbledore had made him swear he wouldn't tell anyone he had returned. Dumbledore had said he wanted to reveal that to the school himself. Quickly, Harry came up with a lie, "I… uh… was in the… bathroom."

As soon as he said that, Harry realized just how stupid that was. It seemed Hermoine noticed that as well, "The bathroom, Harry? You're telling me that you were in the bathroom for six straight hours!"

Quickly, Harry recovered, "Well, of course not, but on my way out… uh… Peeves gave me some trouble… then McGonagall wanted to talk with me in her office."

None of them seemed convinced, but they let it go anyway. They made their way to the Great Hall in silence. When they entered it, they noticed the whole school seemed to share their silence. Even the Slytherin table was silent, but Harry assumed their silence was for Draco and Snape. When they sat down, they noticed that the Headmaster's chair was empty.

"Shouldn't Professor McGonagall be sitting in that chair? I mean, she was the Deputy Headmistress," said Hermoine. With the rest of the Great Hall near complete silence, her voice seemed to be amplified five times louder than normal.

"Do you think maybe she's leaving it open out of respect for Dumbledore?" suggested Ron.

With a grin Harry said, "Yes, Ron, that's probably it."

It was at this time that the reason McGonagall left the Headmaster's seat alone became clear. Dumbledore had suddenly appeared from the wall behind his chair and had stepped forward to address the students. The only ones who didn't appear to be surprised were those at the staff table, and Harry. Seeing the shocked looks of the students, Dumbledore began to address them.

"My beloved students, as most of you are probably aware by now, I am dead. However, I will retain my Headmaster status until the current crisis has been overcome. At that time, Professor McGonagall will become Headmistress and I will become a teacher. With that being said, I can assure all of you that Hogwarts will reopen next year. Professor Slughorn has agreed to be the head of Slytherin House. The next year, despite the going-ons, will continue as a normal school year. Except, I'm afraid to announce that the trips to Hogsmeade are to be cancelled as long as I am Headmaster. Now, let us feast for the last time this year!"

The feast went on in complete silence, obviously people were pretty shook up at having been addressed by the very man they saw be buried the day before. Suddenly there was a loud pop next to Harry and everyone around suddenly jumped. Harry looked down to see Dobby standing next to him.

"Mister Harry Potter, Headmaster…" Dobby stopped when he realized that his voice could be heard by almost everyone around him. He quieted his voice to a whisper and continued, "Headmaster Dumbledore wishes for Harry Potter to report to his office after the feast with his three closest friends."

As soon as he finished talking, Dobby disappeared in a puff of smoke. Harry leaned down to finish his dessert, but to his displeasure, it suddenly disappeared as well. Dumbledore rose and spoke, "That concludes our end of the year feast, if you will please make your way to the front door where you will all be escorted to the train. And fret not, your bags and all belongings are already there waiting for you, you just need to pick them up."

As Ron, Hermoine, and Ginny began to stand up, Harry grabbed them all and pulled them back down.

"What your problem, Harry! The train will leave without us if we don't go!" whined Ron.

"Ron's right this time, Harry, we really do need to go," replied Ginny.

"Just shut up! Dumbledore wants to speak with us. So come on, I'll bring you guys to his office."

Harry got up and led them down a few corridors until they came face-to-face with that ever-familiar gargoyle. Harry said the password and then led the other three up the spiral staircase into Dumbledore's office. Ron, Hermoine, and Ginny all stared in awe at all the artifacts that cluttered the office. Suddenly, Dumbledore appeared from the wall behind them.

"Hello, I'm so glad you could all make it," Dumbledore said with a smile.

The four jumped in surprise and were about to turn to face him but he simply glided through them and went to take his spot behind his desk. He stared at them through his half-moon glasses and began to speak.

"It has come to my attention that some of you have decided not to return to school next year."

Ginny turned to face the other three and looked hurt. "You all secretly decided not to come to school next year without me! You were just going to leave me here alone were you! Well I'll tell you one thing…"

Ginny was cut off by Dumbledore, "Do not worry Miss Weasley, the three of them will return next year."

Harry looked up at Dumbledore in surprise. He had no intention whatsoever of returning to this school before Voldemort was defeated. How could Dumbledore just suddenly decide his fate without ever asking him at all?

"But Professor, I can't just sit around here and watch as Voldemort destroys anything he so pleases! I need to go out there and find those last Horcruxes! You can't just…"

Again, Dumbledore interrupted, "Harry, you are so close to finishing your education. And look at what you're doing. In your haste to defeat Voldemort, you are uprooting three of your friends from completing their education. All four of you have such great potential after you have finished your schooling, especially Miss Granger. Are you going to deny them their education and therefore a decent shot at life after Voldemort? Harry, I know it seems as though there's nothing to life but defeating Voldemort right now, but Harry, there is a life after Voldemort. Once he is defeated you will all have to go back to living a normal life. Allow that normal life to be better with your education under your belt."

Harry contemplated this a little, then looked back up at Dumbledore. "Alright Professor, I will return next year."

Ron, Hermoine, and Ginny all nodded in agreement, and Dumbledore looked pleased.

"Excellent! Now, I regret to inform you all that you have missed the train." At this, Ron hit Harry's arm and gave him a look that said 'I told you so!' But Dumbledore continued, "However, I'm sure alternate transportation can be arranged. I have asked Remus and Nymphadora to apparate the two of you that cannot apparate to the headquarters of the Order. As for you Harry, Minerva will take you to the Dursleys where you shall spend the summer unless otherwise instructed. Do you understand me? You are not to leave that house until you are told to do so by someone of the Order. So long as you stay there, you are protected, you understand? We cannot take any risks here. Well, now would be the time for you four to leave, your escorts are waiting on the front grounds."

Sure enough, Lupin, Tonks, and McGonagall were waiting for them outside the castle. McGonagall had Harry's trunk in one hand and Hedwig in the other. As soon as she saw him, she motioned for him to follow and she immediately began walking towards the edge of the grounds so as to apparate. As soon as they were off the grounds, McGonagall put Hedwig's cage under her arm, grabbed Harry and apparated.

By this time, Harry had gotten about as used to the feeling as he felt he would ever get, although it was still very odd. At the Dursley's front doorstep, McGonagall finally talked to Harry.

"Mr. Potter, please, you must remember not to leave this house during the summer. Stay in there and don't send any post at all. It is alright to let your owl loose at night, just don't do it too often. Someone will be sent for you when the time for school draws near. Until then, Mr. Potter, goodbye."

And with this, McGonagall was gone, leaving Harry alone to endure one last summer at the Dursley house.

Hope you liked it! - I know it's starting off kind of slow, but it will get better I promise.


	3. The Attack

Author's Note: I am soooo sorry for the long wait. School just started up and on top of that I was determined to make this chapter longer. I am definitely going to do a better job of getting these chapters out quicker from now on. I was so close to posting this chapter up, and we get hit with a hurricane. But I'm back up and running now, so here we go.

monster-post: I am sorry about the length of the other chapters, but chapter two was longer than chapter one! Hmm, that doesn't help does it? Eh, well, as you can see, this one is definitely longer, and I intend to make the others this length if not longer as well.

Tiffinsj: Yes, when he comes of age that would be right, however at this time he is only 16 and therefore not of age.

Dorian: I actually reread the part in the fifth book with Harry's conversation with Nearly-Headless Nick. In it, he never actually says that ONLY people who fear death become a ghost, he just says that that is the reason most do. Dumbledore didn't fear death, he just knew he had more he had to do, and that stuff is more important to him than moving on.

Disclaimer: Again, J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, not me.

Chapter 3: The Attack

Harry sat quietly in his room with his head outside the window, looking out at the stars. It was about a week before his birthday, and Harry was expecting to be rescued any day now. As he sat there, quietly thinking, his mind began to drift. He began thinking how hard it was going to be to go through his last year at Hogwarts while worrying about Voldemort. From that, his mind moved to how he was going to find where Regulus had hidden the other Horcruxes, if he even got his hands on any others. From there he wondered where Ron and Hermoine were hiding. Dumbledore had said that they, along with Ginny, were to be taken to the headquarters of the Order. But where that was he didn't know. Suddenly Harry began dwelling upon Ginny. He realized, after not seeing her in over a month how much he really missed her. He was hoping that she would take him back after this whole Voldemort business was over. He began remembering how her lips felt on his; those soft, smooth, and 'SNAPE IS STILL ON OUR SIDE!' What the fuck! Where did that come from? It felt as though that particular memory had been suddenly pulled to the front of his mind. It was then that Harry remembered that feeling, he had felt it before in Snape's personal classes in his fifth year. Then that would mean… suddenly Hedwig flew in through the window and knocked Harry's glasses off his head and into the grass outside the house.

"Damnit Hedwig! You stupid bird!"

Angrily, Harry stormed out of his room, down the stairs, out the front door, and around the house to where his glasses lay. Then it became clear to Harry as to why Dumbledore and McGonagall wanted him to stay in the house all summer. As soon as Harry picked up his glasses and put them on, everything began to grow black. Harry remembered that when the dementors attacked him, everything grew black as well. Something felt different this time, but Harry didn't have time to think of that, he had to find the dementors.

"_LUMOS_!"

Nothing. Harry heard the familiar sound of his wand casting a spell, but he saw nothing.

"_LUMOS_! _LUMOS_! _LUMOS_! _LUMOS_!"

"_EXPELLIARMUS_!"

Harry's wand suddenly flew from his hand. Someone else was out there, someone who could do magic. The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it.

"_CRUCIO_!"

Unbelievable pain seared through Harry. He fell to his knees and screamed in agony. Only one good thing came from that spell, Harry now recognized the voice of his torturer, Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Do you like that, Potter? I believe this is an invention your friends came up with. Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder; does that ring a bell? Young Draco discovered this stuff; it seems to be very helpful when you use the Hand of Glory with it. Also, we were able to acquire another invention of those Weasley brothers. The name escapes me, but to sum up what it does, no one will be able to hear you scream. You have no idea how pleased it makes me to see you writhe in pain, Potter! I could kill you right now and take all the pain away of course. Would you like me to do that, Potter? I could… but that would end my fun! Besides, you're worth more to me alive. For instance…"

The thought that Dumbledore had become a ghost was suddenly dragged to the front of his mind. With his body in so much pain, it was impossible for him to try to resist her invasion of his thoughts.

"Excellent! The Dark Lord will be very pleased that I will be able to deliver this information to him. He was worried that Dumbledore would do that; he'll be happy to have a definite answer. Now, let's find out where your little group of friends are…"

It suddenly became clear to Harry as to why that information had been kept from him. He felt a blank being drawn to the front of his mind. He had no idea as to the Order's whereabouts.

"Damnit Potter! You are absolutely worthless! What's the point of keeping you alive when you can't give me the location of your friends? _AVADA KE_… wait, you can still serve me a purpose. I'm sure the Dark Lord would be very pleased if I were to deliver to him Harry Potter, alive. He would get a great amount of joy in killing you himself."

This was the chance Harry was waiting for. He heard the sounds of Bellatrix's footsteps coming closer. He reached his hand out in the direction he believed his wand to be and shouted, "_ACCIO WAND_!"

Harry's wand flew into his hands and obviously it surprised Bellatrix, because the Cruciatus Curse stopped. He leaped to his feet and pointed his wand at the spot he believed Bellatrix to be and shouted, "_INCENDIO_!"

He must have hit because the next sound he heard was Bellatrix's scream. He leapt toward the scream and knocked Bellatrix onto the ground. He reached around and felt the Hand of Glory. As soon as he touched it, everything lit up. He saw that he had only hit Bellatrix's left leg with the blast, but it was enough of a hit to knock her off-guard. He ripped the Hand of Glory from her grasp, and jumped back off her. He saw the look of absolute fear as suddenly her entire world went black due to Fred and George's invention. She began wildly scrambling around, trying to find either Harry or her wand, Harry couldn't tell which. Harry felt pity for her, despite his intense hatred he felt toward her. He lifted his wand and pointed it at her head.

"_INCENDIO_!"

Bellatrix's body went limp as her head was submerged in flames. Harry sat there and waited until he was sure she was dead and then cast the spell to douse the flames. Bellatrix's eyes were completely gone. It looked as though her tongue had been melted to the outside of her mouth. There was not one strand of hair left on her head, and her nose was non-existent. There were patches of skin on her face that were no longer there, exposing the now charcoal colored bone. Harry thought he had seen some ugly women before, but this one definitely took the cake.

He walked out of the darkness powder and turned around. It was beginning to wear off; he predicted it would be gone within the hour. He also noticed that Bellatrix had crawled outside of the powder; she was visible to anyone who happened to walk by. He knew Uncle Vernon would be at least infuriated when reporters came to his house asking why there was a burned corpse of a woman on the side of his house. He decided it would be best to at least hide her in the shrubs for now. As he began walking towards her, he heard someone calling for him.

"Harry! What on earth are you doing outside of the house?"

Harry turned to see Lupin running towards him, wand drawn.

"I'm sorry, my glasses fell out my window, I just ran down to get them."

Lupin's glance fell to the burnt corpse of Bellatrix and his eyes widened.

"And then…"

Harry turned to face the corpse as well and said casually, "Oh yes, then I burned her."

"Oh, so it was a her? May I ask exactly who you burned?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange."

At this Lupin's expression hardened. He knew what Bellatrix had done, but he never expected Harry to burn her to death.

"Harry, we better get back indoors. I'll talk with you about this then."

Lupin then ushered Harry back inside and up the stairs into his room. As Harry began packing Lupin began questioning him on what had happened.

"So Harry, why exactly did you leave the house after you were told countless times not to do so?"

"I don't know professor. My glasses fell out the window and I just went to get them, I wasn't thinking."

"Fair enough. After all, you are your father's son. He had his moments where he didn't think. Of course with him, those moments seemed to be just about his whole life." At saying that last part, Lupin gave a slight grin to Harry, showing he was just kidding around. Lupin then continued, "Now explain what happened with Bellatrix."

Harry explained the whole incident in extreme detail, leaving out only the part about Bellatrix knowing that Snape was on their side. For safety reasons, Dumbledore made Harry swear he wouldn't tell anyone that piece of information. Only he, Dumbledore, and McGonagall were the people that knew that, aside from Snape himself. And as was just proven from the encounter with Bellatrix, perhaps Harry made it one too many people who knew already.

"Interesting," said Lupin when Harry had finished, "it would seem either the Dark Lord or that bastard Snape has been teaching the Death Eaters Occlumency. Anyway, since I'm here I might as well take you away."

"Might as well take me away? You mean this wasn't the date you had originally planned to do it?"

"That's right, Harry. We intended to take you away on your seventeenth birthday. But seeing as I'm already here, and your birthday is a week away, I might as well take you now."

"Coming to pick me up on my birthday makes sense, but if that was so then why were you here?"

At this Lupin grinned at Harry. It was the kind of grin an adult gives a little child when they ask a question with such an obvious answer. "Harry, do you honestly think we would not keep an eye on you?"

The thought that members of the Order would watch over him had never occurred to him, although now it seemed so obvious. In the summer before his fifth year, the Order had a Squib watch over him, and even then members of the Order would rotate out. What would make this summer any different? Other than the fact that Voldemort was more powerful, which would explain why Lupin and not Mundungus was watching him.

Harry suddenly remembered something and looked up from his packing to face Lupin again, "Wait a minute, what about the wedding? If you intended to pick me up in two weeks, I would have missed the wedding. Why would you guys want me to miss the wedding?"

Lupin suddenly looked very sad and his face moved to face the ground. "Harry, the Burrow was attacked last month. Everyone was able to escape except Bill and Fleur. Bill was still asleep in bed and Fleur refused to leave him. When Mr. Weasley and I went back to inspect the damages, we found their two bodies lying underneath the Dark Mark. The Burrow was absolutely destroyed, nothing remaining but a large crater in the ground."

Harry, horrified at this news yet happy that only a few people were killed in a Death Eater attack, continued his packing in silence.

When Harry finished packing, Lupin beckoned him downstairs where they were met by a very angry Uncle Vernon. Harry glanced at the clock and noticed the time. It was one in the morning, a strange man was in his house, and something smelled like it had been incinerated; no wonder he was angry.

"What the bloody hell is the meaning of this!" Spit flew from Uncle Vernon's mouth as he screamed this. Lupin calmly wiped his face and then answered the angry man.

"Vernon Dursley, say goodbye to Harry. This very well be the last time you ever have to see him."

Uncle Vernon's face went from blood red to something that looked like a little kid's face when he first glanced at the Christmas tree on Christmas morning.

"Well bloody hell, what am I doing standing your way! Please, please, right this way, the door is right this way."

With Uncle Vernon screaming in his delight, Aunt Petunia and Dudley climbed down the stairs, awakened by the sudden noise. Uncle Vernon was pushing them quite roughly towards the door, and Harry swore he saw some semblance of sadness on Aunt Petunia's face. As soon as he began pondering as to why she was sad, the front door had closed behind them.

"Well," said Lupin, "your Uncle seemed rather glad to get rid of you. Anyway, I do believe we should be…" Lupin stopped short, pulled out his wand and stared into the distance. "Harry… do you feel that?"

Sure enough, Harry had felt it. It was the feeling that was missing when Bellatrix found him. He had thought there were dementors out then, but then one thing was missing: the icy and fearful feeling that comes along with the foulest creatures on earth. Harry, too, pulled out his wand and held it front of him, ready to fight off as many dementors that came his way. Unfortunately for Harry, the dementors did not come from the front. The attack happed so suddenly neither Harry nor Lupin were able to react. The dementors swooped down from on top of the house and attacked from behind. The first wave of them knocked Harry and Lupin both to the ground. Lupin was able to spring up in time to point his wand at a group of them, but another group hit him from the side. Still, Lupin kept getting up and trying to fight. The dementors bothered with Harry very little, however, probably because Harry was not a threat to them. He was still down from the first wave. Fear had overcome him. He stared into emptiness as every fear he had ever experienced was dragged to the front of his mind. He did not notice at all when Lupin hit the floor and was unable to get up. He had no idea that right behind him, the best Defense of the Dark Arts teacher he had ever had was having his soul sucked out right behind him. The fear was too intense. He was on the edge of consciousness. The last words he heard before passing out was the sound of a lady, screaming out, "_EXPECTO PATRONUM_!"

Author's Note: YAY! I got to leave a cliffhanger. These are fun to write. I suppose not so much fun for you guys though, huh? Don't worry, I won't make every chapter a cliffhanger, but this one felt so right.


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